Resident Evil 6 review – no hope left

The year’s most divisive sequel is finally here, with more content than any Resident Evil game before it – but is it a case of quantity over quality?

Resident Evil 6 (360) – aiming low

There seems little question that Resident Evil 6 will prove to be the most controversial game of the year. Its most vocal critics will be those that had hoped for a return to the series’ survival horror roots, when in fact this abandons them almost entirely. That in itself is not a negative – any franchise must evolve to survive – but the problem is that the new style of play that has replaced it is so banal and derivative.

This is not to suggest that Resident Evil 6 represents any great departure for the series. It’s still following the template laid down by Resident Evil 4, which means very little puzzle-solving or exploration and a focus instead on action set pieces. But that’s why complaining about survival horror is missing the point: Resident Evil 4 was a great game regardless of genre, and despite having relatively little in common with the classic era games.

What it did have though is series creator Shinji Mikami, whose exit from Capcom left Resident Evil 5 in the hands of less talented developers. Resident Evil 6 is headed by a different team again and shows that Capcom’s previously stated desire to attract more Call Of Duty fans was meant very literally.

As is by now well known Resident Evil 6 features four separate story campaigns, the final one being unlocked when the others are completed and featuring a solo adventure for Ada Wong. The main three campaigns all feature two-player co-op, although if computer-controlled the second player is much better at staying out of the way than in the last game.

Leon S. Kennedy is the nominal lead, starring in a brief introductory sequence in zombie-filled China – before you’re given the option to play whichever campaign you please. Paired up with Secret Service agent Helena Harper Leon’s story is the closest the game ever gets to survival horror, although all this really means is that most of his levels are very dark and it’s harder to see monsters before they leap out at you.

There are also a few quieter moments to build tension, but Capcom no longer has the patience to do these properly and entering a room with a host of suspicious looking corpses gets old very quickly – especially as you can’t simply shoot them in the head to tell whether they’re zombies or not. There’s no logical reason for this, the game just doesn’t want you to do it – which neatly sums up both the lazy attitude to internal logic and the apparent contempt for complex interaction.

Either way the game is now essentially a straight third person shooter, complete with its own annoyingly unreliable cover system. Basic movement is also clunky and awkward, which we assume is an attempt to recall the tank controls of the series’ past but just seems like a pointless and frustrating halfway house. Unless you’re running, obnoxiously large onscreen prompts tell you to press a button whenever you navigate any obstacle larger than a shoebox, which not only feels clumsy but constantly spoils the atmosphere.

It’s also hard to be scared when ammo is plentiful and you always have the back-up of a partner to hand. Even the famously cheesy dialogue has regressed to the point where it’s no longer funny. Everyone speaks in one-liners that make Leon and co. sound like your dad trying to make a joke while watching a bad action movie.

Leon’s campaign is arguably the most enjoyable part of Resident Evil 6, but its attempts to mimic Resident Evil 4 are second rate at most. By contrast Chris Redfield’s campaign is at least something different for the series, in that it fully embraces the idea of a being a third person shooter.

Partnered with new character Piers, Chris’ sections are often heavily reminiscent of Gears Of War (ironic given Epic Games cite Resident Evil 4 as key inspiration) and regularly feature armed opponents and boss type characters that need to be taken down with a quick time event – which predictably are far less imaginatively staged than earlier games.

There’s a mindless pleasure in seeing what new grotesque opponent Capcom can throw at you next, but the combat lacks any kind of grace or nuance. The second your progress is impeded the frustration and tedium quickly sets in: the urge to see what’s round the next corner is strong, but the interest in what you’re currently doing is almost non-existent.

The game’s lowest points come during the third story campaign with newcomer Jake, son of Albert Wesker, and the now grown-up Sherry Birkin from Resident Evil 2. With no prior template to follow for the characters Jake’s campaign becomes a bizarre grab bag of unconnected set pieces, which include some of the most laughably amateurish moments we’ve seen in a major video game for years.

Trying to jam in everything from turret-based boss battles to ultra-simplistic stealth sections and sloppy-implemented vehicle chases neatly highlights Resident Evil 6’s problems as a whole. By trying to do so much it never manages to excel at anything.

And yet the game’s inconsistent enough that some bright spots still shine through. There are numerous sequences were Jake and Sherry are being chased by a giant Nemesis-style creature and these work very well, in a Resident Evil 3 kind of a way. Why the whole of Jake’s campaign wasn’t based around this is a mystery, but it suggests a peculiar lack of confidence from Capcom – in both their game and the attention span of modern audiences.

Ada Wong’s unlockable campaign is just as bad, indeed the attempts to add ridiculously contrived puzzles and more remedial level stealth makes her story almost as frustrating as Jake’s; especially given the higher difficultly level.

The one complaint you cannot level against Resident Evil 6 is a lack of content, as even beyond the four story campaigns there’s also the return of The Mercenaries time attack mode, four-player co-op sequences, and the ability to invade other people’s games as a monster.

But the game would’ve been vastly more successful if it’d had cut the number of features and campaigns by three-quarters and concentrated on getting the basics right first; rather than trying to add in every stray feature that passed through the developers’ mind.

Resident Evil 6 is the ultimate junk food video game. It has all the depth and profundity of a Big Brother contestant and like any good reality TV it can be extremely entertaining for those that are happy to switch off their brain and be carried along by the stream of nonsense.

It’s obvious from the opening minutes that Resident Evil 6’s real ambition is to be the video game equivalent of a Michael Bay film, removing any hint of intelligence or artistry in favour of empty spectacle. The game’s greatest failure is that it succeeds in that goal all too well.

In Short: If Resident Evil wants to be an action game then so be it, but it needs to be a good one – not this linear, patronisingly simplistic time waster.

Pros: Mountains of content, with four separate story campaigns and a huge supply of other modes and extras. Generally good graphics and the odd inspired set piece.

Cons: The core combat and controls are awkward, shallow and done better by a dozen other games. Linear, unimaginative level design, and not at all frightening. Terrible script.